


Productive Conversations

by SpaceWall



Series: Westeros, California [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Brothers, Established Relationship, F/F, Families of Choice, Family, Family Feels, Love, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Other, Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-03 20:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12154200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWall/pseuds/SpaceWall
Summary: Westeros, California. Population: these weirdos. In an alternate universe where a hollywood-style business colony erupted in California, its eclectic population lives in a sort of harmony. In Westeros, Stannis Baratheon is running an election campaign, Renly Baratheon is just trying to live his life, and both of them are about to have their lives dramatically altered, for better and for worse. Maybe, just maybe, they can find some common ground.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: While this fic was only put down on paper in 2017, the initial idea came during and following the airing of Season Five of Game of Thrones, because I was frustrated and angry about Stannis’s portrayal on the show as compared to in the books, where I always read him as a very good, ultimately redeemable person in a bad situation. This is relevant because this story was conceived over two years before many recent events, and is therefore not intended to be read as a commentary on them. Any similarities to real people are most likely coincidental. 
> 
> The only way in which this story should be read as a commentary on current events is that in our world, as in Westeros and in this fanfiction, hate exists in many forms, and should be condemned.

The day that Renly Baratheon was hit by a bus, he did a handful of other things. He sent an email to his partner Loras Tyrell, ate breakfast, fed the neighbor’s cat, planned to meet for lunch with Margaery Tyrell, left for work, and ran into his brother’s campaign manager at the bus stop.

Renly didn’t acknowledge the woman, whose long red hair cascaded over her blazer almost to her waist. He had assumed that she wouldn’t acknowledge him either. She certainly had never acknowledged him in all of her homophobic rhetoric or in all the times she’d advised his brother that people like Renly were less than human.

“Mr. Baratheon,” the woman murmured, coming closer. She carried herself like someone who knew exactly how good she looked. Renly thought that her name started with an M, but all that came to him was Maleficent.

“Burned any sinners today? I hear that we’re in season.”

Everything after that happened very quickly. Renly laughed a little at his own joke, Melisandre- yes, that was her name- looked around furtively, the bus came around the corner, and Renly felt a hand on his back as Melisandre pushed him onto the street. Then, everything was fire, and then it was blackness.

\--  
Unbeknownst to Renly, his brother Stannis was having a very bad morning. He’d gotten up early to drive Shireen to school so she could go on a fieldtrip to the science center, he was down in the polls again- against Tyrion Lannister of all people- and both his campaign manager and his advisor were late for work. Then, he got the call. It wasn’t to his work line, it was to his personal number.

“Stannis Baratheon.” 

“Mr. Baratheon, you’re going to need to come to Targaryen General, your brother’s been in an accident.”

Intellectually, Stannis might have known that he would still have been Renly’s emergency contact, but there was a real difference between knowing that and being contacted. Of course, Renly wasn’t married, their parents had been dead for twenty years, and Robert had all the competence of the pig he so resembled, but still. On autopilot, Stannis got to his feet, walked out of his office, past his assistant, and got into his car.

At Targaryen General, there was the usual sort of chaos. Nurses and doctors of all colors and creeds raced around, helping patients with a ridiculously wide range of problems. A young child was crying on the floor, much to his mother’s distress, and a college-aged kid was trying to remove a sword made of beer cans that appeared to be glued to his hand. A young woman laughed at him from behind her hand. The whole situation was dire. Stannis made a note to mention health care in his next speech, and then, before he could even reach the front desk, was accosted by two young women. They didn’t look happy. One of them was as tall as Stannis, while the other came just up to his shoulder. The tall one looked like an athlete, and was dressed like she’d just come from home. The short one was wearing a suit, and looked at Stannis with hard eyes.

“What the hell are you doing here?” The tall one said.

Stannis started to explain about Renly being in an accident, and the short one cut him off. “We know all of that, Stannis Baratheon.” She said his name like an insult. “What Brienne means is what business you have being Renly’s emergency contact when you think that he’s going to hell.”

That was what it took for Stannis to place the women. Margaery Tyrell, Renly’s prom date, and now his friend. And Brienne Tarth, Renly’s friend, star of their high school rugby team, and recently returned from serving in the military overseas. They loved Renly, and Stannis couldn’t fault them for being confused and hurt. Renly and Stannis barely spoke. It would be like if Stannis’s emergency contact was Robert. Stannis swallowed his frustration and prepared to make peace.

“Can I please find out what’s happened to my brother?” Stannis said. By silent agreement, the women acquiesced.

Stannis made his presence known to the fierce woman at the front desk, and after a few minutes, an African-American doctor came to speak to him. She began to guide him deeper into the hospital, and both Margaery and Brienne started to follow, and then stopped when the doctor looked at them with a scathing gaze.

It would have been so easy for Stannis to rid himself of them. So easy, and so unfair. And Stannis was nothing if not fair. “They’re Renly’s family. He’d want them here. Probably more than he’d want me here- I’m just the man on the paperwork.” The doctor gave him a look, but didn’t stop Margaery and Brienne from following her.

The doctor told them a veritable laundry list of information. Stannis, to his embarrassment, couldn’t follow it all. Margaery took notes on the inside of her forearm with a pen. The key points were that Renly had been hit by a bus, but the driver had already been beginning to stop, so it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. However, it had still been very bad, and Renly had just gotten out of surgery. He’d be closely monitored and in hospital for a while. They were expecting him not to be awake until sometime tomorrow. Stannis wasn’t sure if that was because of drugs or head trauma. When they were done, they returned to the waiting room, and before Stannis could say a word, he noticed his advisor, Davos, standing by the desk. Davos saw him in the same instant. Wordlessly, he tugged Stannis away from the women. Davos seemed bone tired; Stannis could read it in the slump of his shoulders and the dullness in his eyes. 

“It wasn’t an accident.” Were his first words to Stannis. This was followed immediately by. “Melisandre pushed him. I was just comin’ round the corner and I saw her. She didn’t know I was there.”

Stannis froze. Paralyzed, not for the first time in his life, by decision. He knew with every fiber of his being that Melisandre had done something monstrous, broken the law and hurt his brother. But she’d done it for a reason, and Stannis was beyond sure that reason was his own benefit. What’s more, she was, if not a friend, at least an ally. If Stannis told Davos to say nothing, he would. On the other hand, a word out of his mouth, hopefully to be confirmed by Renly, would assuredly send Melisandre to jail for a very long time for attempted murder. No word would make it a simple he-said she-said, with Renly’s clear bias against Melisandre for her politics making him seem unreliable. But Stannis did what was right by his family, and Renly was his family first and for a long time, foremost.

“Tell the police everything.”

Davos looked at Stannis, face unreadable. “As you wish.” Stannis swallowed the feeling of impending doom in his throat, and returned to the women.

“What about Loras?” Brienne was asking when Stannis returned. Margaery shrugged and turned to Stannis. If his memory served, Loras was Margaery’s brother.

“What now?” Margaery directed the question at Stannis, less harshly than she had spoken to him before, but less smoothly than the way she had questioned the doctor.

“I don’t know.” Stannis admitted. “I’ll be here tomorrow when he’s supposed to wake up, but I’ll probably go back to work. The campaign trail waits for no man.” Stannis tried what was supposed to be a charming smile. Based on Brienne’s expression, it didn’t work.

“What about Loras?” Brienne asked again.

“What about him?” Stannis questioned, fixing his gaze on Margaery as sternly as he could. She met his eyes and didn’t back down.

Brienne opened her mouth to answer, but Margaery got there first. “Loras is Renly’s partner, remember? Has been for almost five years. The only reason that he isn’t here already is because he’s serving overseas. One of us needs to tell him what’s happening here. I can tell him, but it does sort-of sound most official coming from you.”

Stannis didn’t know what to say to that. He blinked, once and then twice. Margaery and Brienne exchanged an almost-sitcomesque side-eye. “You didn’t know, did you?” Brienne said sadly. Stannis just shook his head. What was he supposed to say? ‘My baby brother who I practically raised didn’t trust me with a relationship that he’s been in for almost half a decade.’ Maybe he could go with, ‘Renly knew I wouldn’t respect a relationship that he’s been in for half of his adult life’.

“I’ll tell him then.” Margaery said. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and walked out of the building. She moved with the kind of confidence that made people get out of her way. Brienne, for her part, mumbled something about staying in case anything happened, and took a seat for herself.

Davos and Stannis left the building together, and once they were alone in Stannis’s car, Stannis leant back and made a noise like a wounded animal. He told Davos everything that he was thinking, about Melisandre, and Renly and Loras. Davos was appropriately comforting with regards to Melisandre, but when Stannis said that Renly had lied to him for years, Davos was not nearly so kind.

“Stannis, you’ve told the boy, for largely political purposes, that this part of him was less than valid. You advocated for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and you want your brother to tell you about his military serviceman boyfriend? You can’t always have both.”

“Prepared to gloat?”

“I won’t say that I’ve told you so, since I haven’t, but I will say that I could’ve told you that Renly wasn’t going to trust you with everythin’”

\-- 

Renly was awake before Stannis made it to the hospital, though in fairness, there was a traffic jam involved. He looked terrible. His face was badly bruised, and he couldn’t even sit up. Margaery was already there, and it was clear that she’d been crying.

“You couldn’t have waited two weeks to fall in front of a bus?” She said with what was almost a laugh in her voice.

Renly didn’t say anything, having noticed Stannis, and perhaps that was what compelled Stannis to answer. “He didn’t fall. Melisandre pushed him.” Renly looks truly struck dumb, and Margaery turns around to openly glare at him. “Davos saw her do it. He’s spoken to the police.”

“Did you ask her to try and kill me?” Renly asked, his voice painfully quiet.

Because of course, why wouldn’t he believe such a thing, Stannis thought. He was surprised how much the thought hurt. He hadn’t known that he still cared so much what Renly thought of him. Stannis opened his mouth, but could think of nothing to say. Eventually, he did what he’d always done with regards to Renly. He said nothing right, and walked out. But unlike those times, Stannis didn’t try and cast Renly from his thoughts. Instead, he drove to his campaign headquarters, and packed up Melisandre’s office himself. It felt like the thing to do. A young journalist was loitering, hoping to ask some questions, but Stannis let her wait.

Two hours later, Margaery Tyrell walked into their headquarters, and took a seat beside the journalist. Stannis let her wait too, while he went through Melisandre’s papers. Half-an-hour after that, they seemed to have become fast friends. Then, ten minutes later, Stannis found what appeared to be the beginning of a far-right political manifesto with Melisandre’s notes in the margin in pen. He set that aside for the police, and accepted his fate in speaking to Margaery.

When he exited Melisandre’s office, both women stood at once. The young journalist wore her long caramel hair in what looked like complicated braids, and carried a voice recorder and a notebook in hand.

“Margaery,” Stannis said, and she walked past him into Melisandre’s office before he could say anything more. She seemed confused by the chaos around her, but still perched herself on the desk. Stannis explained the situation, and what he was doing.

“Renly’s sorry for what he said,” Margaery told him, after. “He sent me to ask you if you wanted to come back, talk properly.”

Stannis leaned slightly against the door. “You should know that, for everything I’ve said, I don’t hate Renly. He’s family, and we don’t have a lot of that left. I’d rather my daughter’s only uncle wasn’t Robert.”

“He thinks that you hate him, sometimes.”

“I know.”

From there, they spoke for a few more minutes, about largely superficial topics. Margaery was clearly intelligent, and though she seemed very young to Stannis, he could tell that she had more political savvy in her hair than most people had in their whole bodies. She spoke with emotion, and her whole body seemed to say “I’m trustworthy and good.” Stannis couldn’t find it in him to dislike her.

“Will you talk to Renly?” She asked, as she made to leave.

“Tomorrow.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a Productive Conversation actually happens

The hospital room was dreary, but at least it was private. That was the sort of thing that money most certainly could buy. Even so, the walls were on the grey side of off-white, the floor was tile, and the ceiling, which was most of what Renly could see, was those stupid little squares that were only ever used in building schools and hospitals.

Most of what the doctors told Renly was good news, except for about his leg. He’d landed badly on it. In no uncertain terms, he’d likely never walk unaided again. There was bruises, and roadburn, and cracked ribs, but with time, nothing would likely trouble Renly long term, except the leg. It all hurt like hell too. The drugs helped, but Renly didn’t love the feeling of that either. It made him feel foggy, and he worried that he’d do something stupid. Like, for example, accuse Stannis of trying to kill him.

Brienne and Margaery had been here yesterday, when Renly hadn’t been sleeping, and today, Stannis would be coming, hopefully to have a more productive conversation than yesterday’s.

Like the devil, Stannis chose the precise moment that Renly was thinking of him to appear. He was in a well-cut suit, with close-cut hair, and his eyes were cuttingly sharp. He seemed tired. Despite all of his put-together political garb, he seemed like a man who’d more easily fall asleep at a desk than work at one.

Stannis started with platitudes this time, after yesterday’s bombshell. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit. But I’m told that’s to be expected when you get hit by a bus. They tell me the leg’s the only thing that won’t mend in time.”

Stannis looked surprisingly remorseful at the news. At Renly’s invitation, he sat awkwardly in the chair. It was too low a chair for Stannis to perch on the edge, but he still sat straight-backed and at attention. There was a silence.

“Margaery told you about me and Loras.” It wasn’t a question.

Stannis nodded in answer anyways. “I couldn’t have expected you to tell me.”

“No.” Renly thought this must have been the most civil words they’d exchanged in a row since Stannis had started his campaign for state senate, and Renly had come out in the same year. Stannis might have strangled him for that, if Stannis ever had the fury in him to strangle anybody. After that, Renly had started skipping family parties, and Stannis had too. When they spoke after that, it was frigid and bitter. Especially when Stannis, largely for political reasons, began to support legislation that was more and more right wing.

“Does he make you happy?” Stannis looked uncomfortable, but at least he was trying.

“Happier than I’ve ever been.” This wasn’t a hard question to answer. “How’s the campaign going?”

To Renly’s astonishment, Stannis actually laughed. “Like shit. But I’m told that’s to be expected when your campaign manager is arrested for attempted murder. Tyrion’s winning handily already, and when the Stark girl breaks the story today, I have no doubt that my chances will be over.”

“Stark girl?”

“A reporter, and apparently a new friend of your friend Margaery’s. If it’s going to come out that my campaign manager tried to murder my brother and absconded with my wife, better that it happen in my way than to be caught with my pants down.”

Renly attempted to process all of this information, and got stuck once more. “Done what with Selyse?”

“When the police came, Selyse and Melisandre were in the process of becoming.” Stannis clenched his hands on the arms of the chair. “More closely acquainted. They tried to escape together, and once it was determined that Selyse had not actually committed any crime, she came to me. At that point, I made my distaste for murder clear, so her next stop was to retain her brother as her council so she could file for divorce. As I understand, she doesn’t even intend to ask for custody of Shireen. Just wants money.”

“I’m so sorry, Stannis.” Renly didn’t know what else to say. What do you say when your brother’s truly horrible wife leaves, and doesn’t even try to take their truly wonderful daughter. Renly had never liked Selyse. She was a singularly dull and irritating woman, and her disinterest in Shireen was by far her least endearing feature.

Stannis shook his head again. “Don’t be. It isn’t as though you held a gun to her head and forced her to cheat on me.”

“Or to be unkind to Shireen.”

Stannis shook his head again, but it was a regretful sort of shake, not the kind truly designed to say ‘no’.

They were quiet for a while. A nurse stuck her head in, but said nothing. To Renly’s great surprise, it wasn’t awkward. Stannis was good at being quiet. When Stannis was twenty and Renly was fourteen, they would have often sat in the same room and neither of them said anything. Then, like now, there would have been a great deal left unsaid. Now, there was the truth of both of their feelings, all of their years of anger, and an apology for Renly’s harsh words yesterday. That wasn’t even to think of all the years of apologies Stannis owed Renly.

Finally, Stannis broke the silence again. “When does Loras get back into the country?”

“Twelve days.” An easy question. Thank fuck.

“What’s he like?”

A hard question. Fuck. “He’s determined. And he’s good. He loves me, and he loves Margaery, and Garlan and Willas. He can be fierce when he needs to. Margaery was wishing that he had been here, but knowing it wasn’t an accident, I’m glad that Melisandre will be in police custody when he is. If he’d found out when Margaery did, I believe that he would’ve strangled the woman. And possibly you, by association.”

Stannis actually almost smiled at that. “And now? Is my neck in danger?”

Renly couldn’t help but laugh. Then he stopped, because that hurt like hell. It was a good moment, but it ended when Stannis’s phone rang. After he picked up, his face fell. Then, if possible, it fell further. Stannis stood, paced the room, and came close to swearing. He hung up with a decided scowl on his face.

“I trust this means that you’ve just won the lottery?”

Stannis furled his eyebrows and gave Renly a scathing look. “That was Davos. The police are asking to speak to me, as is the young gentleman who’s supposed to be informing me of my impending divorce.”

Renly, by his nature, went to problem solving mode at times like this. “Willas Tyrell is a divorce lawyer, and a good one. If I asked, I’m sure he’d represent you. If you don’t have anyone else in mind.”

Stannis nodded thoughtfully. “If you’re willing, that would be… helpful. I know that she doesn’t want to care for Shireen, but if she thought it might get her what she wanted, it’s not impossible that she would ask for it, she-”

Renly finished for him. “She knows you’d do anything to make sure Shireen was safe and loved.”

Stannis just nodded, and Renly felt compelled to add, “You know that this absolutely makes you the good guy here.”

At that, Stannis actually cracked a smile. Then, struck by memory, he closed off again. “I think I have to speak to the police.” They said goodbyes, and it wasn’t until Stannis was halfway out the door that he turned and added, “If it’s alright with you, I’ll be back again later.”

Renly accepted, and was forced to spend a few minutes simply contemplating. A couple years ago, Renly would have been overjoyed to have Stannis back in his life. But that was then, and this is now. When Melisandre came into Stannis’s life, his politics became crueler, and more homophobic than they had already been. To speak to him felt like something of a betrayal. On the other hand, Stannis had been pleasant today, kind even. And of course, Stannis was his brother, before all of that. They’d grown up together, lost their parents together, and lost Robert too when he went away to school. Then, even before all the politics, Stannis had withdrawn himself, become distant. Renly had never known what he’d done wrong. Brienne had always said the answer was “fucking nothing.”, but Renly had always doubted that. After all, Stannis and he had been so close. Something must have changed that.

Brienne arrived an hour later with her laptop, and read Renly the interview Stannis had given. To her credit, the Stark girl had accompanied her article with a full copy of the transcript, though the article itself was far harsher on Stannis than the interview alone deserved. Renly figured that Stannis had probably earned some harsh journalistic criticism. Mostly, the Stark girl seemed to have done a lot of investigation on who Melisandre really was. A history of far-right radicalism, a lot of ties to dangerous or controversial people. It made Stannis look pretty bad, but the interview fixed a lot of that. In it, Stannis came off as tough, but fair. Stark had even allowed him to retell the story of how he’d called the police on Davos for driving without a license, when he was driving a piss-drunk Stannis home from a party.

“I can’t tell if he’s a brilliant politician or a terrible one,” Brienne announced partway through them reading the interview. Renly was inclined to agree. On the one hand, Stannis looked like he’d actively supported right-wing extremism. On the other hand, he came off as someone who’d been lied to, but was trying to do the right thing.

Perhaps an excerpt from the interview summed it up best. When Stark straight-up asked Stannis if he supported Melisandre’s extremism, Stannis said “I support the rule of law, and democracy. Melisandre wasn’t abiding by either. I wish things were different, but they aren’t.”

After they read the whole thing, conversation turned to lighter topics. Margaery’s new crush, for example. Apparently, the Stark girl was ‘absolutely jaw dropping’, and smart as well. Unfortunately for Margaery, she was also dating someone, and apparently straight.

At the end, they became serious again. Brienne asked about Stannis, and Renly took great relief in speaking of it. His feelings were never more conflicted than on this topic.

“The root of the matter is,” Renly told her, “I truly believe he can be a good man. He practically raised me, and if I know one thing about his personal life now, it’s that he’s a good father to Shireen. When we spoke earlier, he actually made an effort to ask about Loras. But the things he’s said for political reasons are unforgivable. Knowing Stannis, he feels it’s his duty to become successful so he can make up for everything Robert does. But that doesn’t change the potential consequences of what he’s said. I’d like to be able to forgive him, but I feel like it’s wrong to forgive someone who could fail to notice he was harboring a madwoman for years, because she fit right in.”

Brienne tapped her hands on the top of her closed laptop. “I haven’t got a brother, and if I had one like Stannis, I wouldn’t forgive him. But I don’t think that means you have to cut him out of your life. Give him a second chance, as your brother, but don’t forget how the first chance ended.” For a brief instant, her face turned dark. “And if he fucks up this time, I can kick his ass for you. Or Loras will.”

Renly smiled at that. He missed Loras like breathing. Twelve days, then they’d have time. Renly had thought they might drive up to Oregon, spend some time with only the two of them- go camping maybe. It would be beautiful in the summer. Now that wouldn’t happen, but at least Renly would be able to touch him, feel Loras’s breath on his skin, and hold him at night.

\--

Stannis was already halfway to drunk when Davos got there. Coming through the door, he almost did a double take. Stannis rarely drank, and almost never for anything other than social reasons. Stannis described the choice as making him ascetic. Davos, in their younger years, had called him a ‘total spoilsport’. Of course, the one time Stannis had been properly hammered, he’d gotten Davos arrested, so perhaps it was for the best if he stayed sober.

Dragonstone, as Stannis’s home had been named by local children, was dim, as always, but today it fit Stannis’s mood well. The hall lights didn’t dispel the shadows cast along the victorian wallpaper, nor could anything have dispelled the shadows that Stannis carried with him. Driving up, Davos had been struck, as he often was, by the peculiarity of this place. If was an excellently maintained, beautiful victorian-style mansion, in the middle of nowhere on a peninsula that stuck out into the sea. It suited a horror movie better than a family home. When Stannis had been pressured to move in by Robert a decade ago, Davos had helped him take all his things over by boat. Inside, Dragonstone had been full of cobwebs and mold. The rooms were lit badly where they were lit at all, and the windows were mostly boarded up. Years of work had lightened Dragonstone, but nothing had done more than having someone living there again. 

“Where’s Shireen?” Was Davos’s first question.

“With Selyse’s parents. We all thought it was better for her to get out of town for a few days so she wouldn’t be subjected to the press and the beginning of the divorce and everything else.”

“You’ve told her then?”

“Yes. About all of it. Shireen’s nine, not stupid. She’s not happy, certainly, but I think she understood better than I did that Selyse was already gone, she just hadn’t left.”

They made their way into the kitchen, and Stannis sat on one of the stools while Davos helped himself to a drink. Stannis had asked him here to talk business, but that was clearly not happening, so it was best to go with the moment. Stannis opened up emotionally at a rate of roughly never in a million, so when it happened, it needed to be paid attention to.

“Do you think I made her do it?” Stannis asked mournfully a drink or so later.

Davos considered this. “Melisandre or Selyse?”

Stannis took another sip before he responded. “Either. Both.”

“I’ll call it like I see it, and I figure that the answer is the same for both. Perhaps. You couldn’t make Selyse a good mother, you couldn’t fix her health problems, and you couldn’t make her happy when she wasn’t. But you never spoke to the woman, Stannis. It’s no short wonder that things came to a head dramatically when you hadn’t really spoken in three years. They would have ended, aye, but not this badly if you’d done things differently. Of course, hindsight’s 20:20 and all. As for Melisandre- did you tell her ‘push my brother in front of a bus’? Not that I know of. Did you go with whatever rhetoric she came up with to get you votes? Yes. She was becoming unhinged at the end. Everyone in the campaign could see it but you and those who preferred Melisandre to you to begin with.”

“But you don’t think that I wanted her to do it?” Stannis turned to him, and there was pain and desperation in his eyes.

“No.”

Stannis sank his head to the table in relief. “She’s told the police that I asked her to do it. Then we set her up. The papers they found in her office and home have convinced them that she was acting for herself, but they still had to question me. After all, there was no love left to lose between Renly and I. Why would she do something like that if I hadn’t asked her?”

Davos didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. Stannis, having said his piece, put the bottle down and made his way to lie on the couch in the sitting room. Davos followed. Despite the surplus of chairs, Davos sat close to Stannis. Sometimes, Stannis needed someone who’d rather sit beside him than not.

“Am I insane for wanting to be friends with Renly again?”

Davos was apparently playing the role of advice-columnist today. He thought about telling Stannis to write in to Oberyn Martell for advice instead, but followed his better impulses. “No, just selfish. You’re not the one who’s been done down here. If you want forgiveness, that’s something you’ll have to earn.”

Stannis fell asleep shortly after that, and Davos carried him to bed. Then he helped himself to one of the spare bedrooms to spend the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a Wild Loras appears.

Renly was well enough to return home, and to begin physical therapy, but not well enough to wait for Loras at the airport, especially given that the flight was likely to be delayed. That was why Margaery and Willas were there instead. The flight was so far only half-an-hour late, but Margaery was estimating that they’d wait another ten or fifteen minutes. Garlan had offered to come in Willas’s place so he wouldn’t have to stand and wait either, but Willas had insisted, and his leg did not trouble him as much these days as it had once.

They’d already discussed all of the usual topics. Margaery’s work, her crushes (currently, the beautiful and intelligent Sansa Stark), grandmother, Oberyn and Ellaria (doing well, both career-wise and home-wise), and this was usually about the point where Margaery started bugging Willas about something or another to get his mind off waiting.

“So, rumor mill says you’re representing Stannis in his divorce.”

Willas gave Margaery a side-eye for the record books. “You know I can’t discuss specifics of anything with you. If you’re looking for gossip and drama, go talk to Oberyn.”

“So you are representing him. And I take it you two have met?” Willas turned to give her a fed-up look with both eyes. “What do you think? Of him as a person I mean.”

Willas gave her a sort-of shrug. “Not bad? Not especially open. Politically, I’d rather drown than be caught dead with him. I thought that Ellaria was going to make me spend a week on the couch for taking the case until I said Renly asked me to. She’s been working hard to keep him from being elected to the House.”

“I doubt she has to do much on that front.”

“Less than nothing. I believe she could go out and campaign for him tomorrow and it wouldn’t change people’s minds. Tyrion Lannister’s actually a good sort. Nothing like his father, and twice as charismatic. That makes him ten times as charismatic as Stannis. Add to that the fact that Stannis is politically hard-right and in California. Even Westeros isn’t that conservative these days. He’s been fighting a losing battle from the beginning. And now with the scandal? It’s a perfect storm of failure.”

“Will he drop out of the race?”

Margaery never got to find out what Willas felt on that matter, because at that moment, the grey slate of the doors slid open, and, after a pair of old Chinese ladies meeting a young man with a wild grin, came Loras. He looked tired, which is what flying halfway around the world will get you. When he saw Margaery and Willas, he broke into a run, and Margaery met him halfway. He dropped his bag to pick her up and hold her tight. His hair was short, and he hadn’t shaved in at least a few days. To Margaery’s surprise, he started to cry. He hugged Willas too, but gently, with the attention to keeping Willas upright that those who’d known Willas since his childhood had grown accustomed.

Loras was not a pretty crier. His face got blotchy and he made a weird noise in the back of his throat. Margaery took Loras’s bag so they could make good time to the car. It was Margaery’s car, a sleek white electric car that she was inordinately careful with. They gave Loras some time to try and calm down, but he only wanted to go home. Willas got the front seat because of his leg, which left poor Loras to cry into Margaery’s nice faux-leather seats while she drove. It was a half-hour drive from the airport to Renly and Loras’s. Loras managed to stop crying about five minutes in. Margaery’s heart broke for him. All of that fear, anger, and hopelessness bottled up inside.

“How is he, really?” Loras’s voice rasped a little.

Margaery answered. “Surprisingly well. He misses you of course, and he hates being stuck at home. But I think he’s mostly just glad to be alive right now. I think that Stannis has helped a lot. It means that the biggest drama of this whole thing has ended up being their reconciliation instead of Renly’s injury. Also, if anyone in Westeros is having a worse June than Renly, Stannis is that person. Misery loves company and all.”

Loras sighed, and leant his head against the window. Willas spoke up when it became clear that Margaery had nothing helpful left to say. “Have you been getting the news?”

“Less than you have.”

Willas, with the benefit of living with two of the biggest gossips in Westeros, was more than qualified to fill Loras in. “Cersei Lannister-Baratheon has filed for divorce.” Was his opener, and much to Margaery’s shame, his closer was “Margaery has fallen madly in love with a beautiful young reporter by the name of Sansa Stark. And before you ask, yes, those Starks.”

Loras snorted out a laugh at that. Margaery could feel a blush rising in her cheeks, and dug her hands into the steering wheel. Willas smiled wickedly.

“What’s she like, Margaery?”

Margaery considered how to answer this question. “She’s smart, and twice as curious as is probably good for her. She’s an empathetic writer, but she doesn’t shy away from the hard topics. She’s drop-dead gorgeous, and we’ve been texting for a couple of weeks now and she’s been funny and sweet. She’s also, like, probably straight and definitely taken. It’s tragic.”

“Isn’t it always when you fall in love?” Loras was teasing. That was an improvement over Loras being sad.

“The first time I fell tragically in unrequited love, I brought Renly into your life, asshole. You don’t ever get to knock that ever again.”

Loras and Willas both had to laugh at that, and Margaery executed a frankly rather skillful parking job into a tiny spot right in front of the apartment building where Loras and Renly lived. They didn’t move upstairs quickly. Margaery and Willas had been prepared for Loras to run his way up, taking the stairs three at a time. Instead he loitered outside looking thoughtful. Margaery was no mind-reader, but she could tell what Loras was thinking. Probably ‘oh god I’ve been waiting to see him for months, agh, my love!’ or something like that. Idiots.

Willas had clearly sensed the same irrational angst Margaery had. He gently led Loras into the building, while Margaery carried his stuff. The elevator played the weather (it’s set to be a long summer, but you know what they say about long summers). Then they were in the hallway, and Margaery’s heels were near-silent against the carpet. And then Loras was opening the door. Everything that had been moving as if in slow motion sped up.

Loras rushed through the doorway, and sank to his knees dramatically on the floor beside Renly on the couch. They kissed softly, and Loras began to cry again. Margaery put Loras’s stuff on the coffee table, and then she and Willas, along with Brienne, who’d been waiting with Renly, excused themselves.

“They should get married.” Brienne said out of nowhere when they were out in the hallway.

“Renly will get it into his head to propose eventually.” 

Willas shook his head at Margaery’s remark. “Not if it comes to Loras first.”

Brienne rolled her eyes at both of them. “I don’t care if either of them proposes. I just think they should make their way down to the courthouse, grab some witnesses- save us all from the drama.”

Willas considered this. “Grandma Olenna would kill the both of them for getting married without telling her.”

Margaery and Brienne both agreed on this point. Willas pulled out his phone, and made his way down the hallway to call Ellaria and Oberyn and tell them that Loras was home safe and sound. Margaery texted their parents to deliver the same information, and then, on a whim, sent a text off to Sansa. ‘Just picked up youngest bro from airport- you never think you’ll miss ‘em when you’re kids, y’know’

Sansa responded, a minute later, with ‘you’ve got no idea! One of my brothers (cousin, but raise w/ me- looonnggg story) is an astronaut now. When we were kids I hated him- now it’s like shit, do I miss that nerd?’

‘an astronaut’

‘I know! He’s literally been in space for the past couple weeks and like idk what to do with that’.

Margaery looked up to find Loras, tear stained but happy, reading her texts upside-down. She gave him a light shove, and then allowed Brienne to pull him into a hug.

Later, when they’d all sat down inside, Loras leaned over to Margaery and whispered, “I missed you too, nerd.” She smiled and squeezed his hand.

\--

Loras and Renly enjoyed a couple days of relative solitude and calm. Renly still had to go to physical therapy, and Loras saw the rest of his family. Mace and Alerie came over for dinner, and Garlan and Leonette had Loras and Renly for brunch. Otherwise, they stayed home together. Telling and hearing stories and jokes, becoming reacquainted with each other’s bodies and new scars. Then, in the middle of the afternoon on the third day, there was a knock on the door.

Loras leapt up to answer, and then stood in the doorway without saying anything for a very long time. Renly tried to crane his neck to see who it was when he heard a voice he recognized. “Let them in, Loras,” He called, and Loras stepped out of the way. Stannis stood awkwardly in the doorway, but Shireen had no such caution. She almost threw herself on Renly, just stopping at the last second. They hugged gingerly, and it shattered the tension like a champagne glass on a stone floor.

Loras had met Stannis a few times, mostly before he and Renly were dating. To Renly’s knowledge, Loras has never met Shireen. After all, there was no reason for them to know one another.

Renly liked Shireen. She had all of Stannis’s best traits, but with a child’s naiveté and kindness. Renly thought that, before their parents died, Stannis had probably been something like Shireen. She was a serious child, with a strong sense of responsibility, and a love of books, but she could also be fun, and always was willing to talk with Renly.

“Loras,” Renly called again to where his partner and brother were still standing by the door, “come meet Shireen.”

Loras had plenty of experience with smart girls. He’d grown up with Margaery after all. Fifteen minutes after their introduction, Loras and Shireen were deep in conversation about the merits of Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew as detectives.

Stannis managed to make his way over to Renly during this time. “How are you?” He asked, in his Stannis-like way.

“Infinitely better with Loras home.” Renly turned to look up at Stannis, and pushed himself into something closer to a sitting position. “Why are you here?”

Stannis looked almost guilty. “Thought you’d like to see Shireen,” he said evasively. Stannis was a terrible liar.

Renly gave him an incredulous look when the true answer occurred to him. “Oh, you bastard- you wanted to vet Loras so you brought Shireen over to use as a human shield.”

“What makes you think that Shireen wasn’t part of the test?”

Renly had to laugh at that. Then he considered it. As a test, it would actually be a quite clever one. Shireen had quite bad chicken pox scarring on her face from when she was a child, and anyone who couldn’t look past that to see Shireen’s intelligence and goodness was someone who Stannis wouldn’t welcome into the family. In fact, Renly firmly believed that Stannis’s true reason for disliking Robert had far more to do with Cersei and Joffery’s unkind words about Shireen than it did with any of Robert’s numerous personal failings.

“I wouldn’t date someone who couldn’t respect Shireen.”

“I wish I’d had the insight to make that decision a decade ago.”

“But then you wouldn’t have Shireen at all.”

Stannis conceded that point, and accepted coffee when Loras thought to offer it about five minutes later. By then, Shireen was absolutely besotted. Renly, who knew the feeling of being besotted with Loras Tyrell very well, empathized. Stannis, for his part, couldn’t be said to love, but he certainly didn’t hate him, which was a lot more than Renly had been expecting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stannis makes a new friend.

The trial came about quickly enough, likely, Stannis suspected, because it had the name Baratheon on it. If Stannis’s influence had not slid them up the cue, then perhaps someone who believed that Robert would appreciate the favor had. That person must not have known Robert at all. Otherwise, it was fairly conventional. Melisandre had hired a competent defense lawyer, paid for by Selyse. His name was Thoros Myr, and he was a religious fanatic of Melisandre’s ilk. He had once been a prosecutor, not a defense lawyer, and had rather famously helped put away a mob boss named Balon Greyjoy. Myr had then taken to drowning himself in the bottle, and had only climbed out, supposedly, for the joy of representing Melisandre Asshai. More likely, it was for her money. 

The trial was by jury, and was supposed to last somewhere in the range of a week. The Prosecutor, whose name Stannis thought was Hagar but could never seem to remember, was going for attempted murder, and had tacked on a number of charges to do with hate crimes and conspiracy to commit crimes as well. He wasn’t going after Stannis or even Selyse, for which Stannis supposed he should be grateful. However, Stannis was told on no uncertain terms that he would likely be on trial anyway. Melisandre had, for months now, been hedging her bets on accusing Stannis of framing her.

There had been talk of Stannis testifying, but he hadn’t liked the idea. Stannis was under no illusions about his own charm and charisma. Having him testify would just as likely convince the jury of his guilt as of Melisandre’s. In the end, they had agreed that Stannis would take the stand only if needed.

Stannis didn’t go the first couple of days of the trial, though the benches were always packed. Renly went every day, because he had to. And every day, someone came with him. Mostly Loras, though Brienne and Margaery were frequent presences as well. The second afternoon, by happenstance, Stannis had gone, and found that Renly’s companion was none other than Willas Tyrell.

Stannis had grown somewhat fond of his lawyer in the divorce. Willas was clever in a way that very few people are. When given a problem, he was always quick and dedicated in finding a solution, and he wasn’t overly greedy. Of course, he was heir to the Tyrell fortune, so he probably wasn’t short of cash. Stannis sat on Renly’s other side. With Willas and Renly both holding canes and wearing suits, they looked like rejects from a 20s dance number.

That afternoon, Sargent Clegane from the WPD gave his testimony. He was a rugged, gruff sort. Stannis had thought that he would grate on jurors, but apparently, he was actually uniquely successful at getting convictions. Willas told Stannis later that this was probably because people trusted his resemblance to a movie cop. Clegane mostly read from interviews with various witnesses, explaining his own thought processes and the significance of certain types of evidence.

Sargent Clegane’s answers, when he was questioned by Myr, were largely short and to the point. For example, to the question “Have you ever, in your career, seen someone framed for a crime they didn’t commit?”

“Aye, once. But that case was won on appeal thanks to an eyewitness having lied and admitted it later. And that wasn’t a serious offence. The accused was a husky.”

After they ended for the day, Willas agreed to go out for a coffee with Stannis. The invitation was on Davos’s suggestion. On no uncertain terms, Stannis’s best friend had told him that he needed to show more interest in the lives of the people around him. After all, failing to do so had caused problems with both Selyse and Melisandre.

“You know a great deal about my personal life,” Stannis said, once they were sitting, “but I know very little about yours.”

Willas took a sip of the Americano he’d ordered, and considered the statement. “Perhaps that would be because it’s part of my job to know about your personal life. You have no reason to know about mine.”

“We’re almost inlaws.”

Willas laughed at that. “Are you sure you want to know? Do remember that Garlan is the only one of us Tyrells who is respectably married.”

Stannis considered this. The coffee shop they were in was very… young. The coffee was excellent, but the décor looked a little like a log cabin and a little like an Ikea lighting display. All of the tables were wood, and there was a fake fireplace surrounded by chairs. The wall art was for sale, and not all of it was objectionable. Mostly it was nature scenes. One was of a young man sitting in a wicker chair, and was painted with a surprisingly skilled hand. The note on the wall next to it listed the price at just a couple hundred dollars. A good deal for talent.

“Well, very shortly you’ll have one up on us Baratheons, unless Renly decides to make a mad dash for the alter.”

Willas laughed at that again, but then sobered himself up. “Before I say anything, you should really consider whether you want to hear it. I like you well enough, Stannis, but I don’t believe you’ve ever been a man to be described as open or tolerant.” Before Stannis could interrupt, Willas held up a hand to silence him. “I know you’re trying. I’ve defended you on that basis more than once, and as long as you keep trying, I’ll continue to do so. Despite that, if you have anything to say about the relationships I’ve chosen, and about the people I love, know that I can and would represent you with a lot less attention to detail while still fulfilling all of my legal obligations.”

Drama was one thing that Stannis would never learn to tolerate. “Out with it.”

“I’m in a long-term relationship with Ellaria Sand and Oberyn Martell. Yes both of them, yes they both know. No it doesn’t make me somehow greedy or otherwise morally corrupt. Believe me, I’ve heard it all.”

Stannis’s first response was, “that Ellaria Sand?”

“I only know of the one.”

“That Oberyn Martell?”

“He’s a unique sort of person.”

Stannis stirred his now slightly lukewarm coffee with his finger. “I can’t believe you took my case. I don’t believe I can think of two people who more singularly dislike me.”

Willas laughed again, and it seemed part genuine amusement and part relief. “Selyse Baratheon and Melisandre Asshai.”

It was Stannis’s turn to laugh now. He felt it in his chest, and was surprised to discover that he felt as relieved to not be speaking hate as Willas looked not to be hearing it.

Willas took another drink, and they sat in silence for a while. It was surprisingly pleasant. In May, Stannis probably could have listed on one hand the number of people he actually knew something about without a political reason. It would not have included Renly, or anyone named Tyrell. Now it included Renly, and three of the four Tyrell siblings.

“What did Ellaria think of you taking me on?”

“Nothing good. But she likes Renly well enough. Oberyn actually has very little against you personally, he just hates Robert and anyone closely associated with the man.”

“Perhaps,” Stannis said, straight faced as he could, “we should start a dinner club.”

\--

Davos got the news of Melisandre’s testimony from Stannis, who called him in a panic. His voice was tense, and he almost dropped the phone while they were talking.

“She did it,” Stannis whispered, “she accused us of everything. I ordered her, you framed her. We’re bribing the cops, she’s just an honest woman in an awful situation. And she was so convincing, Davos. I would have arrested myself if I’d had a pair of handcuffs. God.”

“Breathe, Stannis. Breathe.” When Stannis seemed calmer, Davos asked, “Why does it bother you so much that she accused you? It’s not as though the cops would try you if she got off. They know she’s full of it.”

Stannis, over the next half hour, confessed two reasons. The first was justice. Stannis had always cared about the rules, and Melisandre had broken them. What’s more, Stannis wanted justice for Renly, because, under all the bluster, Stannis loved his brother. The second reason was more complicated.

“If she wins, then she’s right. It is my fault. If she gets away, it’s because I’ve allowed her to become a murderous psychopath and allowed her to live freely. If she escapes, it will because I didn’t do something more, something better. I could’ve gotten a confession on tape, maybe. If I’d been smarter, maybe she would never ended up in a position where she could do something like this.”

Davos considered this, and then, with an air of finality about it, asked Stannis one of the most important questions he would ever be asked. “What are you going to do about it?”

Stannis just breathed down the line for a long while, sounding ragged and, above all else, tired. “Whatever it takes, Davos. Whatever it takes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter, sorry! But 5 is the longest so brace yourself.


	5. Chapter 5

They had to shove their way through the reporters. Loras went first, using muscle and attitude to force camera-people and field reporters out of the way. He pulled Renly along behind him with one hand. In the crowd, they were separated from Margaery, who Renly suspected had slipped off after Sansa Stark. Stannis had come separately, but Renly thought that he was probably fine going through the crowd on his own. There were protesters as well as reporters. More than one group of them, since ‘H8 is H8’ and ‘Death 2 Fags’, had very little in common other than their preference for numbers in place of letters. There were cops serving on crowd control, but as long as these folks were peaceful, there was little that could be done.

Loras pulled Renly through the last knot of reporters like a cork from the bottle, and deftly caught him before he could stumble onto his bad leg.

“You alright?” Loras yelled over the din. Renly nodded, and Loras helped him up the stairs like a proper gentleman. He looked dashing in a suit, tight fitted to his thin and muscular frame. His tie was golden, and it went with his hair in a most flattering way. When they reached the top of the steps, Loras came to a sudden stop, and turned to face the press. In a movie, he’d probably begin a dashing speech. Instead, he checked his pocket to see if the car keys were still there. Renly scanned the crowd. Stannis was shoving his way through the line where the ‘Death 2 Fags’ people met the reporters, with Davos Seaworth at his side. It was sometimes easy to forget that Stannis had been a real fighter in his day, but he showed it now. He moved confidently. More scanning of the crowd revealed Brienne, taking the same approach as Stannis had, only with the ‘H8 is H8’ protesters. Margaery had found her way up front with Sansa Stark at her side.

Loras leaned in close to Renly, and whispered in his ear “Are you alright if I do something a little mortifying in front of all these reporters? Nothing bad, I promise, but something they’ll notice.”

Renly thought of all their friends and siblings down below. He thought of the protesters, of their passion and fury. He thought of the cameras. The word no was on his tongue when he thought of Melisandre, somewhere in the building behind them. ‘She wanted to take this from me,’ he thought, ‘I would never have seen this beautiful, kind man ever again’. So, when he opened his mouth, the word on his tongue was, “Yes”

Loras turned Renly gently so they were facing one another. For a second, Renly thought Loras was going to kiss him. Instead, he got down on one knee, and pulled from his pocket not the car keys, but a sleek, black box. A wave of sound passed over the crowd. Reporters hassling their camera-people, a wolf whistle, cheers and boos.

“Renly Baratheon,” said Loras, undeterred, “You are my heart. You help me to be my best self, and always allow me to be myself. I almost lost you, and I don’t ever want to again. No offence to Stannis, but I’d rather not have to go through him if you end up in hospital ever again. You already share my home, my heart, and my family. If you’d like, I want to make it official. Will you marry me?”

Renly couldn’t pull Loras to his feet, but when he reached down, Loras stood. Renly pulled him into a kiss. Not a passionate kiss, just a soft press of lips. If the words ‘I am comfortable with you’ were a motion, they would be a kiss like that. When they pulled back, Renly whispered “Yes.”

Then, in a fit of madness, Loras turned to the crowd, cupped his hands, and yelled “He said yes!” The volume grew deafening, and Loras, laughing madly, pulled Renly inside. When they got inside, both collapsed onto the nearest bench into a fit of laughing.

“You’re insane, you know that?” Renly said when he caught his breath.

Loras laughed again. “You agreed to marry me- who’s the mad one?”

Margaery burst through the doors, Brienne on her heels. “Let’s see the ring, you absolute maniacs.”

Renly looked at Loras. “Yes, let’s see it.”

Brienne pretended to facepalm. “You do know you’re actually supposed to show him the ring?” She asked Loras.

Inside the sleek black box were two rings, both gold and thin. The details were beautiful, swirls and coils that made the light dance off the metal. Further inspection revealed that on the inside both of them were engraved with the word ‘match’.

“You remember?” Loras asked shyly when Renly read the word inside.

“How could I forget?” Renly kissed him again. Deeper this time. The first time they’d discussed their feelings had been during a two man game of truth or dare. Renly was in college studying business, and Loras was about to join the military. In Westeros, for reasons that had something to do with the First World War, every family usually sent someone to serve in one branch or another. Robert had gone for their generation of Baratheons, though Stannis had also been in the reserves for a couple of summers. Brienne had gone for her family. Loras had gone for the Tyrells because Olenna had decreed it. Willas’s leg, Garlan’s early marriage, and Margaery’s intelligence had disqualified each of them. In Olenna’s mind, Loras had been the only one who could be sent. So, he’d been planning to go, and wanted to get absolutely hammered before he went and signed up.

Renly had been the only one in their friend group or family who’d been over 21 and in Westeros. Brienne had already shipped out by then, Margaery had been under age, Willas was at law school, and Garlan was with his in-laws in Santa Monica. So he’d bought them a stupid amount of vodka and they did shots. Renly had, partway through, demanded a party game. It had started as truth or dare, but it proved hard to properly do dares with two people. So Renly coined it ‘Truth or Chicken’, where you essentially asked one another more and more personal questions until someone was chicken. In any given round, you could ‘upgrade’, ‘match’ ‘pass’ or ‘forfeit’ Upgrade meant that you could answer a more personal question and not drink until someone else upgraded. Match meant to answer the same question as the last person and not drink. Pass meant drink but answer a less personal question, and ‘chicken’ meant say nothing and finish your drink. After Renly had invented this game, it had gone on to be popular throughout Westeros U, but usually as a Never Have I Ever type thing. That first night, however, Renly and Loras had both felt damn competitive. So they’d perhaps revealed more than they should’ve and asked harder questions than was necessary. Right off the bat, they’d both admitted to an unrequited love. Later in the game, Loras, who was already out to his family and a couple close friends, had asked Renly about his sexuality. Renly, in what he’d thought would be a winning move, had told a deeply compelling tale of religious upbringing and internalized prejudice. Then, he asked Loras the name of the person he was in love with as a ‘slightly more difficult’ question. Loras had said, without missing a beat, “Renly Baratheon. Can you match?”

Renly, bolstered by drinking, had said “Loras Tyrell. Upgrade that.” Loras had kissed him, and that had been that.

Renly slipped the ring onto his hand, and got to his feet with Brienne’s help. Together, they made their way into the courtroom. As with previous days, Renly scanned the jury. They seemed tired, and no short wonder. Renly was tired and he wasn’t having to make the decision that affected everyone’s lives. The Judge, Melisandre, and the lawyers were already there. Stannis, however, was nowhere to be seen. Davos was sitting up front, and seemed perhaps unduly anxious. Before Renly could come to a logical conclusion about what that meant, the trial got into swing. Renly, who was doing paperwork on his lap, paid little attention. He had to be there, but that didn’t mean he had to sit there and wonder what was going to happen next. His eyes kept slipping from the words on the page to the ring on his finger. Loras, who was watching the trial, entwined their hands. Then Margaery gasped, and Renly refocused in time to see Stannis climb into the witness box. He was standing like the politician he was. His hands were folded in front of him. This was always the sort of place in which Stannis’s quiet strength had been a blessing.

The questions they asked him, prosecutor and defense both, were tough. Myr, Melisandre’s lawyer, wanted to put the idea into the minds of the jury that Stannis would have wanted Renly dead. The Prosecution needed to prove the opposite.

Renly leant into Loras. He didn’t even want to watch. Stannis might be good at answering tough questions, but talking about his feelings was his worst thing. This spelled doom for the trial.

“Mr. Baratheon, would you say that you love your brother?”

Stannis took a long time to answer. Long enough that Justice Stark had to prompt him. “I don’t always like my brother. But yes, I love him. I don’t always love the things he does, but he’s part of me. If he’d died that day, I believe that I would not have gone a night without dreaming of it for the rest of my life. Even when we were at eachother’s throats, I knew that Renly was family. He never knew our parents, but I know that all three of us have some of their best and worst qualities. Renly is better than Robert and I. We’re politicians.” One jury member actually laughed a little at that. “When we do things, it’s not always because they’re right, or because we really believe them. Certainly, that’s been true of me. God help me, I don’t think Renly’s going to hell. I don’t know if I think anyone’s going to hell. But if someone is, it’s probably going to be the man who didn’t notice a homicidal maniac right under- ” There was some effort made to get Stannis back on topic. In the end, he simply said, “I love my brother.”

Loras wrapped his arm around Renly’s shoulder, and held him tightly. Gentle fingers worked across Renly scalp, and their rings rested together on Renly’s lap. The only witness after Stannis was Davos. His testimony was short, and largely factual. Officer Clegane had already discussed Davos’s testimony earlier, and Davos was only really up there to prove that his recollection now was a fair match to his testimony. Because the original testimony had been so simple, it wasn’t hard to recreate. “I went around the corner. I saw Melisandre, who I knew by her hair, her clothing, and our time working together, push Renly Baratheon, who I knew by his resemblance to his brother, and our near decade of on and off interaction, in front of a bus. Her hand was clearly on his back, and he was clearly standing still before she touched him. He did not step forward except in a last minute attempt to catch himself.”

This was supported by the physical evidence, and by the testimonies of Renly himself, the bus driver, and the passengers. The defence asked Davos about his relationships with Melisandre, Renly and Stannis. The intent was clear to depict Davos as a co-conspirator, and while his loyalty to Stannis supported this, other things did not. “I always told Stannis that he ought to be kinder to Renly,” Davos had said to a question on his feelings about Renly, “Robert, now he’d done wrong by Stannis, but Renly was just a boy, not even sixteen. They were all the family they had in the world. Besides, I’m a big believer in second chances.”

The jury was locked away, and both those watching and those testifying, were released. Stannis stood with a certain kind of stoicism. His political career was almost certainly over. What right-wing credibility had been left (ha) had certainly been done away with by “I don’t know if I believe anyone is going to hell.” There was no way that wasn’t making it out of the courtroom. If nobody else had noticed, Margaery could probably use that soundbyte to win Sansa Stark’s eternal love. But Stannis seemed almost… indifferent. When Melisandre passed him, she actually hissed, but Stannis didn’t flinch. His eyes met hers and were defiant. Davos stood at his side. As always. Since Renly had been just a teenager those two had been inseparable. Renly used to call them Athos and Porthos, because they were the two musketeers. Teenage Renly had found that the height of comedy.

Stannis and Renly’s eyes met across the hall, for an instant. Stannis’s gaze flashed down to the ring on Renly’s finger, then over, scanning for the same jewelry on Loras. He opened his mouth, but before he could say something to Renly, though maybe he was simply speaking to Davos, Margaery had dragged Renly away to finally meet Sansa.

She was lovely. As an objective observer, Renly could tell instantly what Margaery liked about her. She was absolutely Margaery’s type. Graceful, elegant, smart, and totally unobtainable. And Renly wasn’t just flattering himself with that description. Ellaria Sand had been an early crush, and had been taken out of the running by falling for one of Margaery’s siblings too. Daenerys Targaryen had gathered Margaery’s affection from afar, as had, in their childhood, Rhaegar Targaryen. Loras and Margaery both jokingly referred to the former president's son as their ‘First Love,’ and had for years bickered over who had fallen first and harder.

Renly thought he would have liked Stark more if she hadn’t also been kind. Most of Margaery’s crushes had a sharpness to them. Ellaria had her confidence, her drive to fight for equality. The Targaryens had their power. Renly himself was ambitious and could be, when the situation called for it, sharp and quick to cut with words. Stark didn’t have that. She seemed empathetic, generous even. It was a good sign that Margaery could fall for someone like her, but at least with the tough ones, they never led Margaery on, if they even knew at all. Unless they were dicks. Then Renly could feel morally justified in helping Loras tear them limb from limb.

It took the jury four hours to reach a verdict. When they were all piled back into the courtroom, They ended up closer to Stannis and Davos. Renly thought, for just a flicker of a dream, that they were sitting closer together than most friends would. But of course, it was a tense situation. And who could blame them for seeking comfort in their friends. Renly, sandwiched between Brienne and Loras, had done the same. 

Renly buried his head in Loras’s shoulder while they read the charges. Brienne told him, later, that Loras had been giving Melisandre death glares the entire time. Loras would say the same of Brienne.

After a heart wrenching, breath-stealing pause, Melisandre was found guilty of attempted murder, with a handful of other charges tacked on afterwards. Her sentence would be handed down at a later date, but Ned Stark didn’t seem to favor her, and likely, she would spend years in jail.

Margaery, undignified, threw her arms up like Rocky Balboa when they left the courtroom. Brienne was crying, just a little, though Renly knew better than to mention that. Stannis seemed- conflicted would be the wrong word- but he didn’t seem happy. Davos just seemed relieved. There was hugging, and hand shaking, and Sansa Stark again, and also her father. Renly sometimes forgot that Stark Senior had gone to school with, and served with, Robert. Then, Stannis’s stone-like presence emerged behind Renly.

“Can I speak to you for a second?” He seemed nervous.

They made their way into a little alcove by the men’s room, which had the great advantage of a chair for Renly. Stannis leaned against a wall as though parodying a man trying to act natural.

“I understand that congratulations are in order.”

Wordlessly, Renly stuck out his hand to show Stannis the ring.

“Did you know he was going to propose up there?”

“He told me he was going to do something crazy, but not what. I thought a kiss, maybe. Something dramatic.”

Stannis took a long moment to gather his thoughts. “That was brave.” He said eventually. From Stannis, that was a high compliment.

“You were brave too today. You didn’t have to do that for me. Thank you.”

Stannis shook his head. “Yes I did. I swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help me God. And I did. Besides, even if I didn’t ask Melisandre to do it, I enabled her. For years. Her rhetoric, her hate- that’s on me. I didn’t stop her.”

Renly would have liked to be able to say ‘No, Stannis, none of that was your fault. Melisandre was a monster.’ But he couldn’t. Because Stannis had fostered hate. So instead, Renly said “What are you going to do about it?”

“For now, I’ll finish the race. Winning’s not on the table, but there’s only a couple weeks left. I won’t make someone else carry my loss on their shoulders. Then I’m going to take some time off and spend it with my family, what I have left of it. Shireen, and Davos and his boys, and you and Loras, if you’d be willing. And after that, I guess I’ll just try and do the best I can.”

Carefully, Renly got to his feet. Then, he pulled Stannis into an awkward embrace and said, “I believe in second chances too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it for this instalment folks. I'll be back in a bit, but first I need some time to work on the next work, which is all about Brienne and Margaery. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey, and I'm grateful for each and every one of you.


End file.
